Children are the future of the world and everyone relies on them to take the nation forward. However, they are faced with a huge problem of obesity at an early age due to poor lifestyle habits. A large percentage of children in America are overweight and the number keeps increasing over the years. This epidemic increases their risks of certain chronic disease like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and other heart diseases at an early age. These conditions have no cure and remain throughout the life of a child. Former studies indicate that eighty percent of children suffering from obesity continue to be obese even in adulthood and have severe cases of diseases associated with it. They blame industrialization which provides a lot of processed foods which have low nutritional benefits and high calories and technology for providing products which encourage sedentary lifestyles.
These studies provided recommendations on the way forward in the treatment of epidemic and the conditions related to it. They suggested measures to promote healthy foods and more physical activity. However, the continuous increase in cases of the childhood obesity indicates that these efforts are ineffective and the world needs better strategies. In this regard, there are newer approaches to provide a permanent solution to this menace. They involve providing well-structured educational health and physical programs to children in schools and at home, regulating advertising and promotion of unhealthy foods and limiting access to products that encourage sedentary lifestyles. These strategies will require all relevant stakeholders including the government, community, teachers and parents to work together to assist and support the children.
Education is the main element in the current approaches since it provides the affected victims, children, with crucial knowledge and relevant skills to make the decision to embrace healthy lifestyles. These strategies are different from the previous ones because they are centered on the needs of those that are affected and do not force them to take part in programs that they do not know anything about just for the sake. By adopting healthier kids, there will be a future reduction in type-2 diabetes and many chronic conditions. They will in turn pass on this knowledge to future generations thus guaranteeing healthier ways of life.
Introduction
Obesity is a condition where an individual accumulates more fat than normal in the body resulting in health problems. Though it is the most recognizable disease, it is the most difficult to cure and is, therefore, considered a disability. When it occurs in children or teenagers, it is referred to as childhood obesity. This condition is the most prevalent chronic disease affecting young people and cases have been increasing at an alarming level over the years. In 2008, the center for diseases control and prevention estimated that 17% of American children were obese. As a result, the number of children diagnosed with early onset of preventable chronic health problems like hypertension, type-2 diabetes, and cardiacdiseases as well as other conditions associated with obesity have been increasing over the years.
Since most of these diseases have no cure, patients are put on lifelong treatment programs that are very costly. The medical costs come as a burden to the immediate family and the entire nation because the government ends up channeling the resources that would have been used on development to providing health services. At the same time, obese children are less productive, especially in manual works. Therefore, if the developments in babyhood obesity are not reversed and stopped early, America should expect to face early type-two diabetes, poor exercise and diet routines, low life qualities inherited by the future generations.
These improvements are just the start of vast changes needed to see an alteration in the general health of American children. Implementing vital and small moves in the correct direction would create an infectious change in the execution of healthier habits. The main aim is to completely reduce obesity in children by enhancing long-term positive habits in the modern American generation. These habits can be carried by the children to adulthood and taught to the future generations thus creating a population of active and healthy children.
Previous Approaches
Several studies have shown that obesity in children has been increasing significantly over the years. They also put forward recommendations on how to handle it and delay its onset. However, the world has experienced a drastic rise in obese children for the past 20 years and it has been termed an outbreak. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Colorado is the only region in the United States with an obesity rate of less than 20% (Ogden et al. 2014). Previous studies have tried to explain the cause of this occurrence and have linked it industrialization which has expanded the food supply and provided people with more than they need. Also, as technology advances, human being have become lazier leaving machines to do all the heavy work for them.
For example, after the invention of televisions in the 1950's, more people stayed inside indoors and adopted watching as their form of entertainment. Another example is the invention of the microwave which allows individuals to heat processed and high caloric foods in a matter of minutes. According to past investigations, another major factor that contributes to obesity is the invention of computers and internet in the 1990's(Ogden et al. 2014). They have decreased the physical activity for children, adolescents, and adults. Most children prefer to stay inside playing computer and video games instead of engaging in outdoor activities like soccer or running which help them to exercise and burn calories.
In addition, most children embrace poor dietary habits which predispose them to obesity at an early age. Unhealthy products like processed foods, corn-based products and sweets have found their ways into their stomach in the recent years. Food processing involves interfering with farm products and affects the nutritional density of foods. It removes vital elements like vitamins, fibers and minerals and replaces them with extra calories. An analysis of the common children foods eaten by children like cereals showed that they are highly processed and have excess amounts of trans-fats and sugars (Cunningham et al. 2014).These forms of cooking are easier and quicker hence most parents resort to them rather than cooking complete healthy meals. As a result, children are often eating energy-dense foods that cause excess fat deposits in their bodies. Combined with lack and/ or reduced physical activity, the adipose tissues accumulate resulting in obesity.
Several studies have recommended various measures to curb childhood obesity. However, while several efforts have been made as per the recommendations, they have not yielded fruits since this condition continues to increase and affect more and more children. Initiatives like the one launched by the former first lady of the United States of America, Michelle Obama, mainly focus on dietary aspects to solve this problem (Johnson " Johnson, 2015). Her plan involves encouraging more nutritional foods to be provided in schools along with more opportunities for children to be physically active. While it is a good strategy, it does not concentrate on educating children and their caregivers on this issue, its causes, and consequences and why it should be controlled.
Current Approaches
The most significant approach to curbing obesity in childhood is providing knowledge. As identified earlier, the poor eating habits adopted by children are largely influenced by availability and non-stop advertisements of unhealthy foods. Like every other human being, they have a weakness in believing everything they hear on television, magazines, newspapers and social media, especially regarding junk food. Also, children are victims of the common myth that video games boosts their mental ability and improves their thinking capacity hence use it as an excuse to not participate in physical activities. This lack of knowledge and understanding of the detrimental consequences of these habits makes them feel like they are being punished when they are told to be more active in outdoor events and eat nutritious foods.
As result, most young ones are not fully committed to obesity prevention and reduction programs and only participate to please their parents or teachers (Wanget al. 2013). Some even sneak to eat junk foods which they consider sweeter, watch television and play video games when no one is watching them. Therefore this lack of commitment is one of the main reasons why many children remain overweight despite efforts to keep them healthy. The current approaches seek to solve this problem by first of all offering simplified yet thorough education about obesity to children. Seeing that most of them do not even know what obesity is, the first initiative will be to teach them in simple terms that they can understand.
Their parents and teachers will be used as the main trainers since children are more likely to be responsive to the people they are accustomed to. They will educate them about the factors that cause obesity, its negative effects on health and the reasons to prevent it. For children who are already obese, a program to reverse it will be designed in collaboration with health experts; emotional support is vital as they walk through this journey (Pulgarón 2013). To embrace healthy eating habits and physically active lifestyles, children need to know why they need to make these healthy choices. They require a better understanding of food and specific types of exercises and their effects on their bodies. This information will increase their knowledge, make them aware of their health and encourage them to take initiatives to be healthy.
This kind of decision which they make willingly without coercion is the best and they will remain committed and focused on the course even when they grow up. In addition to having accurate knowledge background, young people need skills to apply it in life. These lessons are not taught in the current school curriculums because of low funding and budget constraints which force them to prioritize on subjects like mathematics, literature and science(Wang et al. 2013). This is the point where the government will come in to increase resources to fund a properly structured physical and health education program which will teach facts and provide skills and tools to apply the knowledge. With this approach, children will become healthy and carry the practices into adulthood.
The second approach towards reducing childhood obesity is regulating advertisements and the availability of unhealthy foods. After educating children about foods and how they affect their health, the promotion of the ones that are harmful should be stopped to avoid temptations. Implementing this strategy will be difficult and will require the government to intervene by enacting measures to stop the companies from targeting children. It should enact laws that give age limits to the target audience for unhealthy products like banning the use of recognizable cartoon characters on wrappers. A similar strategy was used on tobacco and has proved effective hence it is also likely to work for junk foods(Pulgarón 2013). Also, placing taxes on junk products will make them expensive and unaffordable for most people thus making them resort to healthier options which will be cheaper.
In addition, encouraging children to participate in more physical actions by limiting the availability of sedentary leisure activities will reduce the risks of obesity. This approach will also involve regulation of advertisements and production of companies whose products promote inactive lifestyles. Seeing that most kids nowadays spend most of their time indoors playing computer and video games, watching television and chatting on social media, they do not burn enough calories in to maintain a healthy weight. Parents need to be hard on them to get out of the house more often to play. This strategy will require the community to participate by providing public utilities like playgrounds and parks. Also, support groups, schools and youth organizations could also assist by offering youth sports opportunities like organizing fun neighborhood basketball or soccer games after school.
Conclusion
Curbing obesity is a very difficult process which requires the involvement and commitment of victims. In children, it has been known to increase their risks of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, hypertension and other heart conditions. Non-stop advertisements of unhealthy non-nutrition and high-calorie foods, promotion of sedentary lifestyles and lack of knowledge have rendered past efforts curb this problem ineffective. Though one does not require a lot of money or grants to get healthier or advocate for it, curing obesity in children requires cooperation from various stakeholders. In the current approaches to turn the tides, the government, community, teachers and parents will play a key role.
Together, they will ensure children get the relevant skills and accurate knowledge about obesity, foods and physical activity and the importance of being healthy. Saving them from advertising brainwashing, providing proper tools and opportunities will give them the power take the necessary actions to prevent and reverse obesity. With these approaches, young people will be healthy and maintain it even as they grow up and teach future generations about it. Eventually, cases of obesity are it in adults or children will reduce.
References
Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B. K., " Flegal, K. M. (2014). Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011-2012. Jama, 311(8), 806-814.
Cunningham, S. A., Kramer, M. R., " Narayan, K. V. (2014). Incidence of childhood obesity in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine, 370(5), 403-411.
Johnson Iii, J. A., " Johnson, A. M. (2015). Urban-rural differences in childhood and adolescent obesity in the United States: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Childhood Obesity, 11(3), 233-241.
Wang, Y., Wu, Y., Wilson, R. F., Bleich, S., Cheskin, L., Weston, C., ... " Segal, J. (2013). Childhood obesity prevention programs: comparative effectiveness review and meta-analysis.
Pulgarón, E. R. (2013). Childhood obesity: a review of increased risk for physical and psychological comorbidities. Clinical therapeutics, 35(1), A18-A32.
